'THIS IS THE COP I AM GOING TO KILL'

BY LEVI PULKKINEN, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Published 10:31 am, Thursday, November 7, 2013

Federal prosecutors in Seattle claim Mark B. Verhul posted the above photo of a Kent police officer, pictured above, as well as disturbing images depicting an officer killed in the line of duty on his Facebook page. Verhul now faces federal charges.

Federal prosecutors in Seattle claim Mark B. Verhul posted the...

Federal prosecutors in Seattle claim Mark B. Verhul posted the above photo of a Kent police officer, pictured above, as well as disturbing images depicting an officer killed in the line of duty on his Facebook page. Verhul now faces federal charges.

Federal prosecutors in Seattle claim Mark B. Verhul posted the...

Federal prosecutors in Seattle claim Mark B. Verhul, purported operator of the Facebook page pictured above, posted threats against and photos of a Kent police officer as well as disturbing images depicting an officer killed in the line of duty on his Facebook page. Verhul now faces federal charges.

A homeless man alleged to have announced on Facebook that he planned to kill a Kent police officer and the officer’s family now faces federal charges.

Federal prosecutors in Seattle claim Mark B. Verhul posted photos of the Kent police officer as well as disturbing images depicting an officer killed in the line of duty.

According to charging papers, an FBI special agent tasked with investigating domestic terrorism spotted the threats on Verhul’s Facebook page on Tuesday night. Verhul, 52, is alleged to have repeatedly threatened to kill the Kent officer.

“THIS IS THE COP I AM GOING TO KILL,” Verhul wrote above a photo of the officer. “This piece of (expletive) violates the homeless peoples civil right and he must die.”

Writing the court, the FBI special agent said Verhul and the officer had several run-ins before Verhul was contacted by police after a fight at a Kent homeless shelter.

According to the FBI agent’s statement, a Kent officer at the shelter heard Verhul threaten the other officer by name, saying he planned to kill him. While the record is unclear, it doesn’t appear Verhul was arrested following that fight at the homeless shelter.

Writing on Facebook, Verhul complained he was bothered by the officer on Nov. 1 while he was resting on a park bench at Town Square Plaza near Kent Station. Verhul said the officer arrested him without cause before banning him from all Kent parks; he was released after being driven to the city police station.

On Tuesday, the FBI agent, who is assigned to the domestic terrorism squad, was reviewing the public segment of Verhul’s Facebook page when she saw the threats, according to charging documents.

In Verhul’s last post prior to his arrest later Tuesday, he discussed an election night demonstration that, in his view, drew too little attention. A self-described anarchist, Verhul appears to have argued that “peaceful demonstration doesn’t work.”

“We need riots in the streets,” Verhul appeared to have written on his Facebook page.

While the Facebook page is maintained under a name with a slightly different spelling, the FBI agent noted Verhul’s photo is included on the page.

Writing the court, the agent noted Verhul appears to have posted his first threats against the officer on Nov. 1. He is alleged to have followed those up with two more threatening posts that included photos of the officer, as well as graphic photos depicting a slain police officer.

“I want to kill this cops entire family and let him live to suffer from the memory of why I killed them,” Verhul wrote, according to charging papers.

Arresting officers seized Verhul’s laptop. He has been charged with making interstate threats – Facebook’s data centers are outside Washington state – and remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing scheduled to occur later this month.